The incorporation of metal ions into polyacrylate coating shows great potential in enhancing the performances of polyacrylate coatings, as well as providing additional functionalities. Herein, we developed a new type of water-soluble polyacrylic acid-Zn(II) composite (PAA-Zn) via the coordination of Zn2+ ions and carboxyl groups of PAA, which showed an extremely high stability in water in a wide range of pH (2–11). It was also facilely applied in polyacrylate latex (PL) as bifunctional additive to prepare high mechanical property, abrasion durable and antibacterial active coating. The PAA, acted as dispersing carrier of Zn2+ ions, and thus promoted uniform dispersion of Zn2+ ions in PL, while buffered the coordination between Zn2+ ions and PL. The as-prepared PL/PAA-Zn coating exhibited significantly improved tensile strength (11.45 MPa) and tear strength (21.01 kN/m) by 120% and 50% compared with those of pristine PL coating. Notably, abrasion durability was considerably enhanced in PL/PAA-Zn coating, showing the decreased mass loss by 36% when subjected to 2000 times of intensive abrasion with sandpaper (320 mesh) under 44 kPa. In addition, the PL/PAA-Zn coatings showed appreciable antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. This work demonstrated a promising strategy for the uniform dispersion of metal ions in polyacrylate coatings for enhancing comprehensive properties. •Water-soluble PAA-Zn was prepared via the coordination of Zn2+ ions and COOH of PAA.•PAA-Zn showed an extremely high stability in water in a wide range of pH (2–11).•PAA acted as carrier and promoted the uniform dispersion of Zn2+ ions in PL.•PL/PAA-Zn coating possessed enhanced comprehensive properties.